The USA Region 1 junior dressage team soundly proved that strength doesn’t always come in numbers. At the CN North American Junior and Young Riders Championships, held Aug. 1-6, in Lexington, Va., three of their four members rallied to gain gold over team Canada and USA Region 8.

After tending to some pre-show nerves, the team was confident entering the first combined junior and young riders championship. But an ill-timed twist of fate kept Bonnie Efird from competing–her 13-year-old Hanoverian, Nobel Laureate, went lame only two days before she was to enter the Wiley Arena at the Virginia Horse Center for the team test.

“All of a sudden, he became lame. We don’t even know what it is. But the vet is working on a diagnosis,” said Efird.

Although she didn’t get to ride, “she supported her team from day 1,” said Linda Speer, the team’s chef d’equipe. “She helped them groom; she was helping them warm up and she was there before, during and after their rides–what a girl!”

Spear’s enthusiasm carried over to her team. “We didn’t expect this victory, but it’s definitely nice to get,” she said.

Even with the disadvantage, the three riders persevered with careful focus on their individual rides and Efird’s unwavering sideline support. “I didn’t even really think about [only having three members]; it is what it is,” said team member Julie McKean.

Teammate Hannah Holland Shook added, “We all came here to ride, so we just went in and did our best.”

For Efird and Anna Stovall, this competition marked their first team experience. “The team atmosphere and the camaraderie is a lot of fun. Even though we only had three members for the competition, there wasn’t a lot of pressure to be perfect,” said Stovall.

Efird said taking part in the combined junior and young riders championship format was inspiring. “Just being able to watch the difference between the juniors and young riders, though they’re both good, it’s amazing what they have developed into and [to see] what we’re hopefully going to develop into,” she added.

With best efforts in mind, McKean and her 8-year-old, Danish Trakehner, Heslegaard’s Stravinsky, earned a 68.15 percent from the judges. Stovall posted a 60.50 percent with her 17.1-hand Trakehner, Ambitious, 13, and Shook anchored with her 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood, Cape Town, earning 66.95 percent, tallying the team’s total to 195.60.

With Team Canada’s anchor rider still on deck, “we were all just praying,” said Stovall as the four members watched Amy Jager and Jive do their test. The pair scored 66.90 percent, putting Canada’s total to 195.05, half a point shy of USA Region 1.

On Fire In Summer
Shook, Charlotte, N.C., and McKean, Camden, Maine, rode remarkably considering their travel schedules this summer. Both came fresh from the USEF National Junior Dressage Team Championships in Pebble Beach, Calif., which took place two weeks prior to NAJYRC. There, McKean earned team silver aboard Hicarlos with Team Independence, and Shook took the individual gold with Cape Town and team bronze with Team Liberty.

And Shook continued her blazing summer throughout the week at Lexington. When she re-entered Wiley Arena on Saturday, she won individual gold while McKean followed in silver.

But neither Shook nor McKean stopped there. After Sunday morning’s freestyle test, the duo played musical medals as McKean and Stravinsky earned gold with a well choreographed and beautifully executed performance to a compilation of big-band music (71.40%). Shook and Cape Town accented their gold medal collection with silver after scoring just fractions behind McKean.

“It’s been so exciting. I’ve been on an endless high since California,” said Shook. “It’s been a lot of hard work and preparation but so worth it.”

She and Cape Town’s partnership began only five months ago. The gorgeous gelding, by Michelangelo and out of Frianca, underwent a career change two years ago. Cape Town moved from a decorated two-star event horse with Clark Montgomery, to becoming a refined dressage performer.

In 2003, Montgomery rode Cape Town with USA Area V for team gold in the CCI** at NAYRC in Wadsworth, Ill. Later that year, the pair took top two-star honors at Radnor (Pa.).

Shook’s trainer, Diane Ritz, found Cape Town for Shook, and their partnership developed quickly. “He’s a spectacular horse. I absolutely love riding him. This has just been so exciting coming here and doing this a week after California,” said Shook. “He’s teaching me so much, and we keep getting better and better.”

After McKean’s trip to California, she managed 1 1/2 weeks at home before heading to New Jersey, where Stravinsky lives, and where she trains with Cesar Parra–who showed Stravinsky throughout the Florida circuit.

McKean and Stravinsky’s partnership started 1 1/2 years ago after he was imported from Denmark. “I bought him just three weeks after he was imported so he was very green,” McKean said. “For awhile, he really had a hard time keeping his cool under pressure and sometimes he’d freak out in the middle of a test. But in the past six months, he’s just blossomed since he’s gone under Cesar’s training and methods. He’s really grown up a lot, and he tried his hardest for me all week.”

This past winter, McKean won the Young Rider Individual test aboard Stravinsky at the Florida Dressage Classic and the junior individual championship in March at the Winter Equestrian Festival Dressage Classic (Fla.).

Amanda Stearns of USA Region 3–who joined the trek to Lexington two weeks after winning individual silver and team gold in Pebble Beach, Calif.–performed two consistent tests aboard John Zopatti’s 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood, Mitchell, and had the best individual score in the team competition (68.60%).

Under Zopatti, Mitchell was the 2005 USDF Region 3 Cham-pion at Prix St. Georges. When Zopatti became preoccupied with the construction of his new dressage facility last year, he offered Stearns the ride with NAJYRC in mind.

“I get to keep him until I go to college,” said Stearns, a high school senior who is considering Virginia Intermont or St. Andrews (N.C.) for their exceptional riding teams. “I do well at school and love hanging out with my friends, but horses are my life.”

Canada Conquers Young Riders
The members of Team Canada West (Gabrielle Anderson, Alexandra Duncan, Tara Dougans, Pia Fortmuller) recovered nicely from their travels to Virginia and took home team gold. They accumulated 202.48 points, bettering last year’s USA Region 2 team champions by a narrow 0.6-point margin.

Their victory extended beyond the ring, though, said Chef d’Equipe Ellen Rumball-Dvorak. “These girls are all really strong competitors psychologically, and they’ve done a fabulous job this week looking after their horses, supporting each other and competing to the best of their abilities,” she said. “Each of them has a great attitude, and I think that makes all the difference.”

Anderson and her 16-year-old Trakehner-Thoroughbred, Talisman, had their first team experience. Though the pair had a slightly less than desired score, Anderson was happy with Talisman’s tempi changes and overall consistency.

“He’s quite the schoolmaster,” Anderson said. Her trainer Sheri Bressee–who owns Talisman–competed “Tali” at Grand Prix level before handing the reins to Anderson three years ago.

Duncan, also contesting her first team competition, anchored for Team Canada West with a supple and refined performance aboard Electra to earn a 68.53 percent. She said that the sweltering heat, “was actually good for my horse,” an 11-year-old, Holsteiner mare who tends to be hot in the ring.

Having the support from the sidelines was Duncan’s favorite part about being on a team. “Everybody comes out to watch everyone else and just having teammates there makes a huge difference,” she said.

Duncan’s long-time riding partner and friend, Dougans, contributed a score of 65.77 percent aboard Nashua, an 11-year-old, Dutch Warmblood gelding. At 21, Dougans was ecstatic to win team gold at her final NAJYRC, especially with a relatively new mount.

Last May, Dougans tried more than 40 horses in the Netherlands before she finally spotted the spirited chestnut. “I knew he was definitely the one. I was infatuated with him,” she said. “He had a lot of presence and a lot of attitude. He’s been a challenge both mentally and physically, but I like a challenge.”

And consistent attention paid off with this particular horse. “He’s a one-person horse. It’s just a matter of being out there with him every single day and building that trust so that when I’m in the ring with him for those five minutes, he’s there for me. I think this is actually the first show he’s been so confident,” said Dougans.

Fulfilling Dreams
Fortmuller, 21, and Donagna anchored for the Canadians, scoring 68.17 percent. “I got shivers down my back when I was riding,” Fortmuller said of her team test. The score and the feeling almost matched the excitement of earning 69.50 percent that Friday when “O Canada” rang through the Wiley Arena once again. Fortmuller topped her individual test to double her gold.

“[That test] felt even better. He was so steady and consistent. I could not be happier with this horse,” she said. “This was my big dream, and I achieved it.”

Still beaming from Wednes-day’s team gold, Fortmuller confidently approached her individual test with a serenity that became evident in the pair’s movements. “I was so excited to get to where we were; I just wanted to have fun and do the best I could. I would’ve been happy with whatever I got,” she said.

But seven years ago, few foresaw this outcome for the 12-year-old, family-bred, Hanoverian mare. Bred by Fortmuller’s grandmother, Ursula Bahlsen, Donagna began training with Fortmuller at 5.

“It’s very to cool to have come this far with her,” she said. “She’s a very strong-minded mare, and it took a very sensitive process to get her where she is,” Fortmuller explained.

Consistency was key. Through learning one another’s subtleties and idiosyncrasies, Fortmuller refined a ride to which the mare responded comfortably.

“My mom jokes and says we’re like sisters. We know exactly how to push each other’s buttons,” said Fortmuller.

And like sisters, they feel each other’s pain. That Saturday night, Fortmuller and Donagna stepped into the warm-up ring to prepare for their freestyle test. But something felt wrong.

“My horse is more important than any one ride,” Fortmuller said after scratching Donagna from competition. She sensed her horse felt less than sound and suspected an old injury’s inopportune flare-up.

It was 20-year-old Bobbie McKee’s first and last trip to NAJYRC as a competitor, but she made it memorable. With her 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Jamelone, she earned individual silver and also won gold for her first freestyle performance.

Earning four scores over 70 percent, their average from the five judges totaled 71.10 percent. After Fortmuller scratched, McKee found herself with the evening’s final ride and used it to her advantage.

“I try not to think about other scores and just go out there and relax. My horse is not as fancy as some of those horses out there, but if you ride your test the way it’s supposed to be ridden, you can do it,” said McKee.

She and Jamelone performed to an array of theatrical scores arranged by Jamelone’s owner, Susan Leutwyer, which McKee described as “fun, light and twinkly, like [Jamelone’s] feet.”

But it took time for the pair to establish the harmony that won judges over and inspired wild ovations from McKee’s decorated cheering section in Saturday night’s packed grandstand. Leutwyer gave Jamelone to McKee one year ago for this year’s NAJYRC. She spent those 12 months winning Jamelone’s trust, learning to relax and building confidence at Horseshoe Springs with Kim Yacobucci in Cave Creek, Ariz.

As their year together comes to a close, McKee isn’t looking forward to ending her partnership with Jamelone. “It’s going to be very sad to give him back. I’ve gotten so attached to him; I really love him,” she said emotionally.

 “He’s done it for so long now; he had kind of turned into a machine,” she added. “But I had the chance to make him into a horse again–just love him and give him what all horses should have.”

Even after Amanda Harlan and her 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood, Liberte, traveled 3,000 miles–enduring cancelled flights, airport lock-downs, horse shipping delays and lost wallets and purses–the pair brought 110 percent focus to Wiley Arena on Saturday night and left Lexington with a silver medal for their freestyle performance.

After winning the Young Rider Prix St. Georges at this year’s Del Mar CDI*** (Calif.), Harlan made it her goal to qualify for her first NAJYRC. She and Liberte began their partnership last November after Harlan purchased the horse from her trainer, Jan Ebeling, who rode the 17.2-hand, gray gelding at the USEF National Grand Prix Championship (N.J.) last year.

Harlan commutes from her home in Oakville, Calif., to train with Ebeling in Los Angeles on weekends throughout the year, but she lives there during summer. “I’ve actually only been home for three weeks this summer because I’ve been training with Jan the rest of the time,” she said.

Harlan, 16, looks forward to many more years of competition as a young rider and plans to continue riding Liberte. “He’s so light and floaty and easy to ride,” said Harlan. “It seems like the trainer’s horse is always the dream horse. I never thought I would end up with [Liberte].”

Joshua A. Walker